Tendon protector



Nov. 11, 1952 B. JENNETT TENDON PROTECTOR Filed Aug. 22, 1950 Patented Nov. 11,1952

FFl C E TENDON PROTECTOR Lorne B. Jennett, Toront signor to Canada C 0, Ontario, Canada, ass ycle and Motor Company Limited, Weston, Ontario, Canada Application August 22, 1950, Serial No. 180,810

1 Claim. 1

This invention relates to a tendon protector and ankle support.

Tendon protecting devices have previously been proposed and have been applied to a hockey shoe to fit snugly about the ankle. Such protectors embody a plurality of flexible striplike elements arranged in substantially parallel relation such as illustrated in the patent to Jennings, No. 2,211,822.

It has been found that such protectors embodying a plurality of flexible strip-like elements result in a construction which is very inconvenient for sharpening of the skate attached to the boot since the shoe upper cannot be properly folded. Moreover, if it is desired to extend such strips down over the counter of the shoe, such construction has apparently been found to be impractical as witnessed by the attachment of such protectors to the boot at a point above the counter. As a result, the most vulnerable points of the heel of the foot are often exposed, though only slightly, and the spaces between the vertically disposed strip-like element will still allow penetration of the boot by a skate blade.

It is a particular object of the present invention to provide a tendon protector embodying a protective mesh of sufiiciently flexible nature that the protector may be folded, if desired.

Another object of the invention is to provide a tendon protector of this character wherein the mesh is able to extend to any point desired below the top of the counter of the boot, thus assuring complete protection to the Achilles tendon.

A further object of the invention is to provide a tendon protector as before, which may include pads designed to extend over the ankle bone of the foot and wherein the entire protector acts as an ankle support.

In the accompanying drawings Figure 1 is a hockey skate carrying a boot with the protector of the invention applied thereto.

Figure 2 is an outside view of the protector of the invention laid out and with a part of the outer covering removed to reveal the construction thereof.

Figure 3 is an enlarged partial view of the mesh employed in the protector of the invention.

Figure 4 is a sectional View of the protector of Figure 2 on the line 4-4 thereof.

In the embodiments selected to illustrate the invention, the right foot boot Ill carrying a skate blade H has a tendon protector 12 of the invention fastened thereto by means of a strap l3.

In Figure 2, the tendon protector I2 is illustrated in more detail and comprises an inner ply I4 and an outer ply l5, preferably of leather, with a wire mesh l6 inserted therebetween and fixed to the ply I 4 by suitable fastening means I! substantially as shown. An outer reinforcing strip I 8 extends over the outer ply IE to add extra protection over the seam running from the counter l9 upwardly in the back of the boot.

The strap fastening [3 serves to pull the counter ends 20 and 2| of the tendon protector forwardly toward the soles 22 of the boot, the strip having a separable tongue 23 cooperating in the fastening function with a conventional buckle 24.

Referring to Figure 3, the mesh I6 preferably is comprised of bronze wires 24, 25, 26 and 21 wherein the adjacent wires are intertwined in the manner illustrated to form a spirally interlocked or coiled mail.

Suitable pads such as the pads 28 and 20 may be located between the inner and outer plys I4 and I5 in regions to protect the ankle bones. Such pads are preferably made of a sponge-like rubber material. A plurality of eyelets 30 may be located near the side edges of the protector to allow for lacing, if desired.

It will be appreciated that it is not desired to limit the scope of this invention to the exact details since the construction is subject to considerable modification by skilled persons. In this respect, any flexible mail of a different weave than that illustrated, may be suitable. Moreover, the present invention contemplates a wire reinforced rubber flexible element in the place of the simple wire web illustrated. In this connection, the web I6 may take the form of a sheet of rubber-like material extending into the regions defined by the ankle pads 28 and 29 but incorporated in a portion thereof, metal wire reinforcing which may be of mail-like form extending therebetween and substantially from the bottom edge 3| to the top edge 32 of the protector. Moreover, the protection of the invention, if desired, may be built integrally into the shoe, in which case the web [6 may be located between the outer and inner plys of the shoe upper and extending down over at least a portion of the counter.

What I claim as my invention is:

A tendon protector, comprising in combination: a flexible wire web in the form of spirally Woven mail designed to overlie the lower regions of the Achilles tendon of the wearer, a flexible material enclosing each side of said web and extending beyond the marginal edges thereof to embrace the ankle of the wearer, ankle bone pads I located to overlie the ankle bones of the wearer and enclosed by said flexible material, and a re- REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Name Date Si-lberschmidt Oct. 7, 1873 Number Number Number Name Date Jewell Apr. 10, 1888 Ockrassa Jan. 14, 1919 Jennings Aug. 20, 1940 Vietas Aug. '7, 1951 FOREIGN PATENTS Country Date Great Britain Sept. 11, 1886 Great Britain Feb. 25, 1903 Great Britain Apr. 19, 1884 Great Britain Apr. 20, 1901 Great Britain Apr. 16, 1903 

